sterilizng containers in a greenshanty / coldframe during summer?
 

does anybody stick their seed starting pots / other garden paraphenalia in
a minigreenhouse or cold frame during the summer to sterilize them?

Is it a dumb idea, waste of time or what? As it is, I don't bother
washing, but if I'm going to have a cold frame, i would if it might be
useful outside of winter anybody know what temperature plastics will start
melting at? Cold frame will have real glass.

I don't know about sterilizing, but I've found the cold frame useful for
another purpose in summer. I remove the glass doors and replace with a
lightweight frame containing chicken wire. In the frame, I plant low-growing
items like lettuces. The chicken wire protects them from feet, pets, and
other mishaps.

"Salty Thumb" wrote in message
news:tNeXc.1130$Cc.988@trnddc07...
does anybody stick their seed starting pots / other garden paraphenalia in
a minigreenhouse or cold frame during the summer to sterilize them?

Is it a dumb idea, waste of time or what? As it is, I don't bother
washing, but if I'm going to have a cold frame, i would if it might be
useful outside of winter anybody know what temperature plastics will
start
melting at? Cold frame will have real glass.

.....and I can also clip fabric or dark-colored window screen to the chicken
wire to give lettuces some protection from the sun.

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
I don't know about sterilizing, but I've found the cold frame useful for
another purpose in summer. I remove the glass doors and replace with a
lightweight frame containing chicken wire. In the frame, I plant
low-growing
items like lettuces. The chicken wire protects them from feet, pets, and
other mishaps.

"Salty Thumb" wrote in message
news:tNeXc.1130$Cc.988@trnddc07...
does anybody stick their seed starting pots / other garden paraphenalia
in
a minigreenhouse or cold frame during the summer to sterilize them?

Is it a dumb idea, waste of time or what? As it is, I don't bother
washing, but if I'm going to have a cold frame, i would if it might be
useful outside of winter anybody know what temperature plastics will
start
melting at? Cold frame will have real glass.

Salty Thumb in
news:tNeXc.1130$Cc.988@trnddc07:

does anybody stick their seed starting pots / other garden
paraphenalia in a minigreenhouse or cold frame during the summer to
sterilize them?

Is it a dumb idea, waste of time or what? As it is, I don't bother
washing, but if I'm going to have a cold frame, i would if it might be
useful outside of winter anybody know what temperature plastics will
start melting at? Cold frame will have real glass.


i trid it years ago. i used a cooking thermometer to measure temps. it
got very hot. plastic pots melted. my box was insulated wiht cardboard
then styrofoam,. the cardboard managed to keep the styro from melting.

it's not easy to keep the top surface of the mix moist. maybe putting
the mix in closed metal pans solves the problems?

but, this is rather labor expensive, too

" wrote in
:

Salty Thumb in
news:tNeXc.1130$Cc.988@trnddc07:

does anybody stick their seed starting pots / other garden
paraphenalia in a minigreenhouse or cold frame during the summer to
sterilize them?

Is it a dumb idea, waste of time or what? As it is, I don't bother
washing, but if I'm going to have a cold frame, i would if it might be
useful outside of winter anybody know what temperature plastics will
start melting at? Cold frame will have real glass.


i trid it years ago. i used a cooking thermometer to measure temps. it
got very hot. plastic pots melted. my box was insulated wiht cardboard
then styrofoam,. the cardboard managed to keep the styro from melting.

thanks for info. why did you insulate? everything I've seen says to
ventilate. I assume the temps when closed would be similar to that of a
parked car with windows up.

it's not easy to keep the top surface of the mix moist. maybe putting
the mix in closed metal pans solves the problems?

I don't understand ... i was just thinking of sterlizing pots (without
soil) during the end of summer for use during winter for seed starting.

but, this is rather labor expensive, too

yikes :-)

Salty Thumb wrote:

...I don't understand ... i was just thinking of sterlizing pots (without
soil) during the end of summer for use during winter for seed starting...



Place your pots and trays into a barrel of water into which you have put
bleach to form a 1-3% solution (1-2 quarts of bleach in a 20 gallon
barrel). This will sterilize the pots. It only takes a few minutes to
get the liquid to soak through dried soil deposits. Wear rubber gloves.
Bleach on your hands can be neutralized with a dilute vinegar solution.

Remove the pots and place them in your greenhouse/coldframe with the
ventilation open. This will dry them out. Place them into a garbage bag
for storage to keep out spiders.

Trying to sterilize plastic with high temperatures is tricky. A closed
coldframe/greenhouse can easily melt plastic even in cool weather.

Leave the barrel of bleach open for a few days and the chlorine will
evaporate and you won't be putting chlorine into the groundwater.

dps in news:41386766$0$565$b45e6eb0@senator-
bedfellow.mit.edu:

Leave the barrel of bleach open for a few days and the chlorine will
evaporate and you won't be putting chlorine into the groundwater.


or save it. i'd do the whole process out doors to reduce breathing the
evaporating bleach.

Salty Thumb in
news:76SZc.4319$Ep4.3184@trnddc01:

thanks for info. why did you insulate? everything I've seen says to
ventilate. I assume the temps when closed would be similar to that of
a parked car with windows up.

it's not easy to keep the top surface of the mix moist. maybe putting
the mix in closed metal pans solves the problems?

I don't understand ... i was just thinking of sterlizing pots (without
soil) during the end of summer for use during winter for seed
starting.

i should have said that my goal was to pasteruize mix. the pots were
semi-incidental (except that often teh pasteurized mix was to be used IN
those pots)
also,and


all "parts" were from dumpsters or from leaning next to dumpsters.
the box was a wood crate that had shipped some equipment. its dimensions
were, (all dims approx): 3.5x2 ft x18"deep. scrap styro (1"? thick) was
cut and pushed into place on inside of crate. corrugated cardboard was
pressed into place against the walls of this cavity. i don't recall if i
cut th cardboard, or any other detail of the cardboard.

i had a pane of glass set upon the top opening. i tilted the top of the
box slightly toward south. the pane needed dust washed off sometimes
(necessary a few times a year?) i think the location received most of
the day's worth of direct sunlight. i could get high temps in the box
during other seasons besdies summer (regular temps range mid 80's,
mid/upper 90's fahrenheit)

wrote:
dps in news:41386766$0$565$b45e6eb0@senator-
bedfellow.mit.edu:


Leave the barrel of bleach open for a few days and the chlorine will
evaporate and you won't be putting chlorine into the groundwater.



or save it. i'd do the whole process out doors to reduce breathing the
evaporating bleach.


Outdoors: good point that I forgot to mention.

I don't think that the chlorine will stay in the water for more than a
week or so at normal temperatures. Even if you keep a lid on the barrel,
they're not really designed to be airtight. So sterilize all your pots
(and anything else that needs it) at the same time (within a couple of
days).